Victor Frankenstein – Film Review by Fran Winston

Directed by: Paul McGuigan

Starring: James McEvoy, Daniel Radcliffe, Jessica Brown Findlay, Andrew Scott, Freddie Fox

In cinemas December 3rd

There are many variations on Mary Shelly’s classic tale of the scientist who plays God and builds a man from dead body parts with tragic results but I can’t recall one that is told from the perspective of his assistant Igor. Of course Igor was a creation of the silver screen having not appeared in the original novel so it is perhaps unsurprising that he has ever been seen as anything more than a secondary role.

Harry Potter alum Radcliff plays Igor here and initially he is the hunchback figure that you may be familiar with from previous incarnations. We first meet him working in a circus. When events conspire to see him rescued from his pathetic life by Victor Frankenstein (McEvoy) it appears that his hunchback was actually a cyst! Once Frankenstein has drained it and Igor has cleaned up he is unrecognisable as the pitiful creature from the circus – which is just as well as Andrew Scott’s dogmatic policeman Turpin is on their trail believing Frankenstein is involved in blasphemous work. He is, of course, correct as the doctor is working on a regeneration project which would see him reanimating the dead. Enlisting Igor to help him the two work on experiments that will eventually lead to the creation of the infamous creature.

This movie has shifted release dates on several occasions and it seems odd to be watching something like this at the beginning of December. A Halloween release would have been much more apt and possibly made it more attractive to audiences looking for a bit of creep and gore at that time of year. As it stands this feels very displaced. It is supposed to be a re-imagining but it doesn’t actually feel very imaginative.

We have seen most of what is here before and although McEvoy makes a suitably obsessed Dr Frankenstein you never really get the sense that he is a man on the edge. Radcliffe also never feels convincing as the one time hunchback given a new lease of life. You don’t get the sense of all the hardship and humiliation he is supposed to have suffered in the past.

The big reveal of “The Creature” is extremely disappointing. Although he is not the focus of the movie he should at least send a chill down your spine but despite the amazing advances in CGI and effects since Boris Karloff played the role back in the 30s this creature fails to shock in the way that he did and continues to.

This story is so ingrained in people’s psyche that it is extremely difficult to do anything with it other than a faithful retelling as people will always pick holes. However here they appear to have been way too ambitious and in trying to almost rewrite the tale, they have veered too far from the ethos and themes of the original tale. It isn’t helped by a weak script and some less than astonishing effects. Even a dramatic final set piece can’t save this.

This adds nothing to the archives of the horror genre and isn’t exactly seasonal fare so I imagine it will struggle to find an audience. It works mainly as a curiosity piece rather than a thrilling piece of escapism. This is a more a movie to watch on your sofa when it comes out on DVD rather than in the cinema.